Earlier this year, bitcoin went through its latest quadrennial halving, which reduces the rewards accrued by miners of the largest cryptocurrency, thus boosting its scarcity. Increased difficulty in the bitcoin mining process can lead to higher costs in the form of increased energy output and lower profits due to the reduced rewards.
The VanEck Digital Transformation ETF targets companies forming the backbone of the digital asset economy, including exchanges, miners, and tech providers. The DAPP ETF's holdings are heavily concentrated in Information Technology (73%) and Financials (27%), with significant investments in the US, Canada, and Germany. The ETF offers a cost-effective entry into digital assets with a P/E ratio of 12.54x and a P/B ratio of 1.92x.
Wall Street surged last week due to high expectations for a significant interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Bitcoin is still a young asset relative to more traditional assets such as bonds, commodities, and equities. That youth is one explanation for why it took large professional buyers, including institutional investors, some time to wade into the largest cryptocurrency, but that scenario is changing in earnest.
Regarding the most artificial intelligence (AI)-adjacent sectors, technology, and communication services take the cake, but some other groups are sporting AI credentials. Take the case of bitcoin miners, plenty of which reside in the VanEck Digital Transformation ETF (DAPP).
Over the weekend, bitcoin initially traded lower on news that President Biden will not seek a second term. But the largest cryptocurrency later rallied as markets came to grips with the fact that Vice President Kamala Harris is the likely Democrat nominee.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have had a strong year so far, both in terms of absolute returns and positive net inflows. The VanEck Digital Transformation ETF (DAPP) has underperformed the Information Technology sector and S&P 500, though, as investors' attention seems focused on spot Bitcoin and Ether funds. DAPP's valuation has improved, but its top-heavy allocation is a risk as price consolidates.